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Since I've started riding, my 23yo daughter is expressing interest in getting her first motorcycle. She thinks she wants a DCT adventure bike like my Africa Twin, but I feel at 5' 6" or 5' 7", it's too tall/big for her.

My thought is a used Honda NC700X DCT. Little shorter, little more narrow, less power, but also less off road ability. Not that I'm doing anything crazy with mind. Washed out gravel and dirt roads are about as far as I've gone thus far.

Bear in mind, this is her first bike but not her first foray into two wheels or power sports. Like me, she has been riding bicycles for a bit and has done 40+ mile rides on them. She also used to race closed course on 1200-1300cc jet skis that were 250+ hp that out turned and out accelerated my Africa Twin.

Not to mention, she's been riding, breaking and competing on performance horses at the highest levels since she was 5. I say that to mean, I don't think a Grom is going to work for her.

If not, I would look for a DRZ400. You can find great deals on used ones that are often already nicely accessorized. They are easily lowered if necessary. She can try it out for a while to see if that is a direction she really wants to go before spending a LOT of money. If she decides Adv riding really isn't her thing, she could sell the bike for probably the same as what she paid, or real close to it. If she really does want to go deeper, then she will have a much better idea of what she really wants from a bike. The DRZ would also be a great bike to use for taking an AdvRiding class, which would be WELL worth the money! In fact, it would be fun to take the class with her

Looking at your sig line, I see your wife has an XT250. That would be great for your daughter to use for getting her feet dirty. Just don't start with a new or expensive bike. It's pretty much an ironclad rule in adventure riding that you WILL fall down at some point. The odds are much higher when you are new to it. There's no point tearing up a nice pretty new bike to get that out of your system. Something like a TW200 might also be worth consideration.

The number one rule for this forum! Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29 (NIV)Think before you post. Leave out the vulgarity, personal attacks and foul language!

Quote:

"However lofty the goals, if the means be depraved, the result must reflect that depravity." - Leonard E. Read

Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies, evaporating it instantly. - Brandon Smith

If you want government to intervene domestically, you’re a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you’re a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you’re a moderate. If you don’t want government to intervene anywhere, you’re an extremist. — Joe Sobran

It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. – Murray N. Rothbard

When one possessed of the Truth suffers from a heavy heart he is susceptible to a more dangerous affliction — the craving for power to eradicate error, to cause Truth to triumph by force. - Frank Chodorov

Where politicians flourish, long history has harshly taught us, people and their liberty wither. Where the state is god and the "public interest" worshipped, individual man will be found bleeding upon the altar. - Karl Hess

The accepted wisdom is that without the state, society would collapse into lawlessness and crime. In fact, lawlessness and crime define the very nature of the state and the society organized by it. - Bionic Mosquito

But the myth of the rule of law does more than render the people submissive to state authority; it also turns them into the state's accomplices in the exercise of its power. For people who would ordinarily consider it a great evil to deprive individuals of their rights or oppress politically powerless minority groups will respond with patriotic fervor when these same actions are described as upholding the rule of law. - John Hasnas

Many bikes can be lowered without a great deal of trouble. I lowered (actually, DFW_Warrior did most of the wrenching) my VStrom nearly an inch. It was as simple as replacing the dogbones on the monoshock with a shorter pair, then loosening a few bolts on the forks and dropping the front height to match the rear height. That was less than an hour's work. A few weeks later, we went back & lopped a little bit out of the kickstand. Obviously, if you lower an adventure bike, you're losing some ground clearance. But given where most adventure bikes spend their time, that's really no big loss unless you occasionally plan to jump a fallen tree trunk.

__________________
Tim in Arlington
'12 black Suzuki WeeStrom
Preach the gospel. And if necessary, use words - Francis of Assisi

Forget the auto clutch and go for a used 250 or 300 ninja. She will not need it lowered and it will go anywhere you would take a big adv bike. They are tame to learn in the low rpm bands, but are stupid fun to run through the gears at redline.

Good enough for double track and forest roads if it isn't muddy. I rode my 650 ninja over a few rocky mountain passes with no trouble, had to keep waiting for the GS's to catch up. Go for a cheap under $2k used example that someone has already dropped and scratched but is solid mechanically. That way you don't have to worry about it. I commuted on a ninja 250 for over 70,000 miles and had a blast on it, including weekend trips and a saddlesore 1,000 ride. Easy on tires and chains, valve adjustmants are as easy as it gets.

People take off on them and ride down into Mexico or up to Alaska all the time, so I don't see any real reason why you couldn't ride it up to Arkansas, especially if you are staying off the interstates. They will run 75-80mph on the highways, but it is not real fun to do it for any serious amount of time (several hours or more). You can run them at 65-70mph on back roads all day long. If desired, you can add a simple windscreen that mounts to the forks/handle bars just to make the highway speeds smoother.

If you were going to ride it all the way to Arkansas and back, I would definitely go for a more 50/50 big block adventure tire rather than a full on knobby (Dunlop 606, Pirellie MT 21, etc,...).

I mention the DRZ400 primarily because you said she wanted to use it for adventure riding, which means different things to different folks, but in general I take to mean a mix of pavement and dirt. The DRZ is great for that, inexpensive, cheap to maintain/repair, and readily found. It has plenty of power but is not intimidating. It can carry a good deal of luggage and depending on the gas tank will have decent range on a tank. And, as I mentioned before, you can sell it later if you think she needs something different and take little to no loss on it unless you tear it up.

There are some other newer bikes. Honda has the CB500X, which is probably a decent 50/50 bike. However, I'd throw some crash bars on it real fast before going down any dirt roads. I don't know if they are available with the DCT or not. If you buy one new and she decides this is not for her, you will take a serious hit on it when you try to sell it. The same will be true for the 700X. I would not make a big deal about the DCT. Learning to ride a bike with a clutch is not hard. Unless you are stuck in stop-n-go traffic for any length of time, there's not really any time it will be a real negative.

Another often overlooked aspect is the size of the front tires. Bikes like the DRZ usually have at least a 19" front and more often a 21" front. When riding on dirt/gravel roads, this usually improves handling versus a 17" front wheel. For instance, I never developed a trust in the V-Strom 650 I had when riding on unpaved surfaces because the front end simply never felt planted compared to other bikes I'd ridden with bigger front wheels. That said, there are a LOT of people that love their V-Stroms for dirt/gravel roads. This is where the type of tire can also make a BIG difference.

Unless it is just too tall, the first thing I would do before spending ANY money (except maybe on gear for her) is put her on that XT250 and let her putt around. That will tell you a LOT in a hurry.

The number one rule for this forum! Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29 (NIV)Think before you post. Leave out the vulgarity, personal attacks and foul language!

Quote:

"However lofty the goals, if the means be depraved, the result must reflect that depravity." - Leonard E. Read

Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies, evaporating it instantly. - Brandon Smith

If you want government to intervene domestically, you’re a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you’re a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you’re a moderate. If you don’t want government to intervene anywhere, you’re an extremist. — Joe Sobran

It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. – Murray N. Rothbard

When one possessed of the Truth suffers from a heavy heart he is susceptible to a more dangerous affliction — the craving for power to eradicate error, to cause Truth to triumph by force. - Frank Chodorov

Where politicians flourish, long history has harshly taught us, people and their liberty wither. Where the state is god and the "public interest" worshipped, individual man will be found bleeding upon the altar. - Karl Hess

The accepted wisdom is that without the state, society would collapse into lawlessness and crime. In fact, lawlessness and crime define the very nature of the state and the society organized by it. - Bionic Mosquito

But the myth of the rule of law does more than render the people submissive to state authority; it also turns them into the state's accomplices in the exercise of its power. For people who would ordinarily consider it a great evil to deprive individuals of their rights or oppress politically powerless minority groups will respond with patriotic fervor when these same actions are described as upholding the rule of law. - John Hasnas

I've pretty much done all those kinds of rides on a TW200. Size isn't everything I'd say have her tushie test a bunch of bikes at shops to see what she likes. Her height gives her greater options over we who are more...fun sized.

Good starter bike
Cheap to purchase and operate
Lots of options
Tons of aftermarket
Very capable

If it get wadded up, not a lot of investment.

I love the Wee and will defend them all day....but, prolly too tall for someone who is a 5'6"-7" beginner. Even lowered, they still are top heavy, esp for a beginner and esp for (hate to say it) a woman, who typically has less upper body strength than a man of similar height.

Like others have said, you really don't need to buy anything right away--let her play with that xt--y'all will know pretty soon.

With her experience, I'd bet she'll have no problem learning how to shift. And it is such an enjoyable aspect of riding...

The 700x seemed a little lower when I sat on one than the wee. Weigh about the same but if you must do the dct, it's really the only choice. If your not doing too much technical stuff I'm sure it would work. Like spirit said, heavy bikes can be a handful in less than perfect conditions.

Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

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